Baseball|Mets Demote Steven Matz, a Top Prospect, After a Solid Outing

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Mets Demote Steven Matz, a Top Prospect, After a Solid Outing

By Peter Kerasotis

March 21, 2015

LAKELAND, Fla. — Everything about Steven Matz’s spring had an air of expectation.

Manager Terry Collins and Dan Warthen, the pitching coach, said that Matz’s impressive pitching performance this March was exactly what they expected. And that no matter how well Matz pitched, he was expected to start the season at Class AAA Las Vegas.

Matz, a left-hander, met both those expectations Saturday.

He turned in a solid start against Detroit in a game the Tigers won, 6-4, at Joker Marchant Stadium. And then he was optioned to the minors.

As a parting gift, Warthen heaped more praise on Matz, 23.

“He’s on the right road,” Warthen said. “I would not be surprised if sometime this year, we see Steven Matz.”

If so, it will almost certainly not be until after Day 21 of the regular season, since waiting that long would push Matz’s free-agency eligibility from 2020 to 2021. It also makes sense to send Matz to Las Vegas, since he has never pitched above Class AA.

Saturday was Matz’s fourth appearance this spring, and as he took the mound, he kept telling himself to keep the ball down.

“You can’t get hurt too bad when you keep the ball on the ground,” Matz said.

Of the eight outs Matz recorded in two and two-thirds innings against the Tigers, half were grounders. Of the three hits he surrendered, two were ground-ball singles. The only damage done was J. D. Martinez’s solo home run in the first inning.

Matz left the game with a 2-1 lead, outdueling the former Cy Young Award winner David Price.

“I feel good; I feel really good,” said Matz, who took two years to recover from Tommy John surgery and is now rapidly rising on the team’s depth chart, perhaps ahead of the right-hander Noah Syndegaard, another top pitching prospect. Matz’s spring E.R.A. was 2.08.

Still, Matz expected the inevitable.

“I knew coming in that the Mets’ pitching staff is pretty stacked, and they have their five guys, and I really wasn’t expecting to make a starting spot out of spring training,” Matz said. “I’m just happy with the opportunity I got.”

Matz said his time with the big club, and outings like Saturday’s, bolstered his confidence that he can pitch in the major leagues.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “The Tigers have a really good lineup, they’re pretty stacked, and I was able to get some of those guys out.”

For his part, when Collins was asked if Matz was ready to pitch in the major leagues right now, he replied, “I don’t see why not.”

INSIDE PITCH

Bobby Parnell pitched for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery April 8, doing so in an intrasquad game in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Parnell threw 20 pitches, 11 for strikes, and gave up two hits. ... First baseman Brandon Allen was reassigned to the Mets’ minor league camp. ...With Daniel Murphy still sidelined with a pulled hamstring and his status for opening day a question mark, Terry Collins said he was looking closer at Daniel Muno and Matt Reynolds as possible replacements at second base. ...Alex Castellanos sustained a bruised right foot after colliding at first base with Detroit’s Jason Krizan, who was legging out a bunt.